Trick or Treat
by tigpop
Summary: It's Halloween. Fake blood, dismembered body parts, swords and guns... But this time, it all gets a little too real, and it's hard to distinguish between the victims and the costumes when Harry and Nikki get caught up in it all...
1. Chapter 1

**I know, I should be writing Yellow Scrubs, but had this in my head and wouldn't leave me alone :p And I know it's a little early for Halloween, but it's going to be a three/four parter (hopefully not much more but I never seem to be able to guess how many chapters it'll end up), and I'm going to a Halloween party tomorrow so thought I'd upload it now :)**

**I'm not sure about it. I know I seem to say that about most of the stuff I write, but please, let me know if it's not worth carrying on :D**

**I really can't write shorter chapters lately...**

**xXx**

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><p><strong><span>Trick or Treat – Part One<span>**

Nikki hit the power button on her remote, silencing the TV that had been playing one of Harry's war films, and sighed heavily. It had been a long day. Scratch that. The longest day in the history of long days.

It had started off bad from the beginning, and progressively got worse as the day went on. Harry was on the first of his three days off work as he was on call for the weekend, which meant that Nikki had prepared herself to get caught up on the paperwork that had built up on her desk without the added distraction of Harry. After looking through the ever growing mountain of paperwork, she was sure that most of the reports were in fact Harry's, but they shared each others desks so often that it was no wonder that they got mixed up occasionally.

The first half hour had been taken up with simply sorting out which reports Nikki did actually need to complete, and which ones were Harry's that he'd 'accidently' placed on the wrong desk.

Turned out, only three were Nikki's. The other eleven were Harry's…

Once the files were properly separated and Nikki had sat down to finish off the coroner's report for their latest victim, she had found it almost impossible to concentrate. As if it was somehow _too _quiet in the office without Harry around. Not that she would ever voice that of course, it would only give Harry an excuse to annoy her whenever possible.

Just when she thought that she was going to fall asleep with boredom, Leo had appeared wearing a sombre look and with a small piece of paper in his hand. Nikki knew instantly that it was a bad case, she could tell by the look in Leo's eyes, and sure enough, it had turned out to be the beginning of the day from hell.

Leo had silently handed Nikki the slip of paper and walked back to his office, pausing as he got to the door.

"Nikki, phone Harry will you? I know he's been on call all night, but we're going to need all the help we can get. He's more likely to say yes to you than he is to me."

Nikki nodded, folding up the paper and pushing it into her pocket.

She had felt guilty about ringing Harry, knowing that he had been called out the night before, but Leo was right. They would struggle with just two of them at the scene. By the sounds of it, the body count was going to be a high one.

Harry had picked up on the second ring, and had sounded rather awake considering it was still only nine in the morning.

"Nikki! You missing me already?" he had joked, and Nikki felt herself smile at the sound of his voice.

"What? I didn't even realise you weren't here," she had said light-heartily, although she knew that Harry would be able to tell instantly that something was bothering her.

"Very funny. What's up?" It was the way that he asked her, the concern evident in his voice, that let Nikki know that she was right. That he knew she wasn't calling for a casual chat. That and the fact that she never phoned him before ten on his day off anyway, as he was usually still asleep.

"How tired are you?"

"Oh no Nikki, please no. I've just got home. Some guy decided to throw himself off the roof of his apartment at half three this morning!" he moaned, and Nikki could just imagine him throwing his head back in protest. So that's why he sounded so awake at this time in the morning on his day off; he hadn't actually been asleep yet.

"How very inconsiderate of him," Nikki tried to joke. "You know I wouldn't ask if we weren't desperate."

"I know. How bad?" he asked, and Nikki could hear him pick up his car keys.

"Bad. Probably all over the news by now. Collision on the motorway. Two coaches, three cars, a motorist and a heavy goods vehicle."

"How does something like that even happen?"

"That's what makes it worse. Oil spill from the HGV," Nikki explained, and Harry sighed.

"Which usually means fire, which usually means-"

"Less survivors. Yeah," Nikki finished. "We could do with an extra pair of hands."

Harry groaned loudly.

"You owe me big time for this one."

"I know. Thanks Harry. I'll text you the directions and see you there."

"See you soon."

The crash site had ended up worse than Nikki could have expected, with the flames still licking at the vehicles by the time they got there. As soon as they arrived they were given strict orders by the fire department to stay away from the collision until the flames were fully extinguished, and the traffic on the motorway was backed up for miles. It was only once they had proved who they were that Leo had been allowed to drive up the hard shoulder to get to the collision point, and even then they could only get so far, the emergency vehicles at the scene littering the roads.

Harry had arrived not long after, looking slightly dishevelled, and wearing the same shirt as he had on the previous day. He'd obviously just grabbed the first one he could find when he had gotten the call out in the middle of the night.

It wasn't until the flames were out completely and the fire brigade had deemed it safe to go any closer that the full extent of the damage could be seen. Some of the survivors that had managed to get off the coaches before the flames took over were huddled around the ambulances getting checked over, the majority of them young children. One little boy, no older than six, stared at the firemen in awe, and it was then that Nikki noticed the small fireman's costume he was wearing as he clutched his plastic yellow helmet.

"Harry," Nikki whispered quietly, stepping closer to him and noticing that he had also been watching the small boy.

"It's Halloween," Harry explained, looking at Nikki. "Look, that little girl's wearing a princess costume. They were on their way to a children's party that their school had organised for them. There were a few schools going, as a kind of get together before the Christmas season started."

"Did any of them-" Nikki couldn't finish her sentence, and the look from Harry was all she needed to confirm her fears.

Once the fire crew had given the all clear, the three pathologist split up, Harry and Nikki each taking one of the coaches and Leo the other vehicles.

Nikki had found it particularly hard to step onto the coach, knowing that there could be children on board, somebody's baby, but she had forced herself to, telling herself that it was all part of her job. That their parents were counting on her to look after their child until they get them back. It still didn't make it any easier.

The front of the coach that Nikki had entered was almost completely destroyed, the fabric seats burnt away to nothing and the glass smashed due to the heat. But at the back of the coach the damage was less obvious, and that is where she found the bodies of a teacher and two small children, pushed right up to the back and sickeningly close to the emergency exit door that must have been impossible to see through the thick smoke.

Their bodies were darkened with the smoke, and yet their skin looked relatively intact. It was the smoke that had got to them, as they got stuck at the back of the bus. The teacher must have ushered the children forward so they could escape. All that was, apart from the two that got trapped with her, a little boy dressed as a dinosaur, and a little girl as a fairy, the pale pink love harts painted on her cheeks still visible despite the effects of the smoke.

Nikki felt the tears spring to her eyes as she checked the bodies over, before walking to the entrance of the coach and breathing in deeply, feeling the tears run silently down her cheeks. Harry appeared from the other coach, taking one look at Nikki and holding up his hand for her to take, before pulling her into a tight hug.

"A teacher and the driver on the other coach," Harry said, running his hand through Nikki's hair. "They managed to get all the kids and a teacher off in time."

"Seven fatalities in total for the other motorists," Leo's voice appeared from behind them, making them both jump. "The biker must have been killed outright. Four were trapped in one car, two in another, and the passengers in the final car got out ok as well as the HGV driver."

Harry let go of Nikki, who wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand. She had to act professional. At least while they were still at the site, where they could be seen. This was her job after all, and she couldn't let every case involving a child upset her.

"Teacher and two children on the second coach," she said, not meeting either of the other two in the eyes. "Looks like they died from smoke inhalation."

And with that said she walked away from the others and back to Leo's car to get her case from the back, ready to start the examination before the bodies were moved.

It was once she had reached over the back seat and got her case that she felt someone standing behind her and knew who it would be.

"Leo sent me to get his as well as mine," Harry said simply, taking Nikki by the shoulders and pulling her into a hug once again, letting his chin rest on the top of her head as her tears blended into his jacket. "You're strong. You can do this, ok. And then after work I'll come round to yours. You're less likely to get kids knocking at your door looking for sweets. Yeah?"

Nikki nodded her head, wiped the tears from her cheeks again and gave Harry a weak smile.

By the time Harry, Nikki and Leo had finished looking round the vehicles, identifying the bodies and searching for anyone that could have gone missing using the school's registers and the suspected passengers in the cars, darkness had began to creep over although it was only late afternoon. So by the time they had left the Lyell Centre, each of the bodies having been identified and locked away in the fridges until the morning, it had gone nine and the sky was an inky black.

The identification of the little girl had been the worst. The technicians had carefully removed her fairy costume and cleaned her skin so it had looked like she was sleeping, which had somehow made it even harder when her mother had come to identify her, breaking down at the sight of her baby.

"She had chosen her fairy costume in August," the mother's words still echoed through Nikki's mind as she had gently stroked her young daughter's hair and kissed her on the forehead. "She insisted that she wore her wings everywhere. To the supermarket, to school, even to bed, I just couldn't get them off her. She told me that when she grew up, she wanted to either be a doctor, or a tooth fairy. At least she can keep her wings now. My little angel."

It was these words that had haunted her all night as Harry had served up the Chinese they had collected on the way back to her apartment and put on a film. And now Nikki was sat on her sofa, Harry's arm draped over her shoulders as his heavy breathing filled her consciousness. The mixture of exhaustion and too much wine had finally taken its toll on Harry and he had fallen asleep. He had been up for nearly two days with only a few hours of interrupted sleep the previous night, so she wasn't surprised when he hadn't made it until the end of the film. He had barely lasted past the opening credits.

Nikki rested her head back on her sofa, letting her eyes flutter closed momentarily, before the sudden sound of Harry's phone vibrating along her coffee table made her eyes fly open again. Gently lifting his arm off her shoulders, she jumped up from the sofa to answer the call before it woke him up again.

"Harry Cunningham's phone," she answered quickly, glancing at Harry, but he was still snoring.

"Oh, I was told that Dr Cunningham was on call tonight," came the female police officer's voice. "Do you know if he is available? We have the victim of a shooting and need someone right away."

Nikki looked at Harry again. It really was the first time he had gotten to sleep in days, and he looked comfortable on her sofa. She glanced at her watch. Ten pm. She hadn't been up as long as Harry had, and had only had half a glass of wine. She hadn't been in the mood for drinking after the day she'd had, and by now any kids out trick-or-treating would have been taken home. Not that she ever got any kids at her door other than the little boy who lived on the bottom floor.

"There's been a change to the rota," she answered the officer. "It's me on call tonight instead."

"Lucky you," said the police officer grimly. "It's a messy one."

The officer described the location of the scene before Nikki ended the call and quickly searched her bag for a pen and paper to leave Harry a note, not having the heart to wake him now that he had finally fallen asleep. Having to settle for her eyeliner, she gently took Harry's hand and quickly scribbled a note across his skin, careful not to smudge the lettering. Throwing a thick blanket over Harry and putting his phone on to the silent mode, she left her apartment, clicking the door shut behind her.

The scene was only a five minute drive from the Lyell Centre, and Nikki got there within ten from her apartment. The roads were quiet at this time of night, yet the streets were still littered with teenage kids, laughing and joking, the girls wearing barely any clothes and the boys with stupid masks, a sickening contrast to the small costumes that Nikki had seen earlier in the day.

"Evening," the officer smiled as she stepped out the car, nodding her head down a small side street. "He's down there. Not pretty I'm afraid."

"Is it ever?" Nikki sighed, her mind wandering back to the pile up on the motorway that morning.

When the officer had told her that the scene was a messy one, she hadn't been joking. Even from a distance Nikki could see the wall splattered with blood, the victim lying on his back with his eyes wide open. The guy looked to be in his early twenties, possibly late teens, and was wearing a ripped T-shirt that was covered in obviously fake blood.

Yet the bullet wound on his forehead was very much real.

Examining the body and taking a sample of the brain matter from the wall, Nikki waited for the SOCO team to take the crime scene photos and search the area. No gun was found, but the victim had obviously been shot at point blank range. Either he'd done it to himself and then the gun had disappeared, or he had been shot. Nikki strongly suspected the latter.

"Bag him up then," Nikki sighed, pulling off her surgical gloves and picking up her case. "Make sure you bag the hands separately, I'll need to check for gunpowder residue. Meet you at the Lyell to sign him in once you've finished."

Nikki yawned and took a deep breath, making her way back to her car. It was going to be another long night.

This day was just going from bad to worse.

* * *

><p>"Tyler this is boring," she moaned, stopping in front of him and shivering. "I thought you said we were going to do something fun."<p>

"Yeah Ty," a second girl smiled, wrapping her arm around his waist. "What are we doing next? I am not going home until I am completely plastered, and so far, I barely feel like I've had _anything _to drink!"

Tyler shrugged away from the girl and walked towards the first, taking her face between his hands and roughly kissing her on the lips.

"Simone, I told you I'd give you a night to remember, didn't I?" he smiled, throwing his arm over her shoulder and turning around to face the group that were following. "Hurry up guys, we have a _lot _of partying to do before the night's over."

The group looked up, the boy at the front smiling widely.

"And where are we supposed to go?" he asked, spinning a plastic gun around on his finger. "The police are still sniffing around at Eddie's after someone put a brick through his neighbour's car, and he was the only one who could get us the booze."

"We're going to go trick or treating," Tyler smiled slyly. "We're going to have a little fun, and then we'll go drinking."

"What about Mark?" another of the boys asked, his long plastic rifle slung over his shoulder. "Where did he get to? He was with us at Eddie's and I haven't seen him since."

"I don't know," Tyler shrugged. "Who cares? He's probably run home to mummy by now hasn't he? You know what he's like."

Stopping in his tracks, Tyler spun around and threw his arms us to the university behind them, smiling at the group and beginning to walk through the grounds. The building was in darkness. All that was, apart from a bright light at the bottom of the stairs.

The Thomas Lyell Centre.

"Ready for some fun?" Liam grinned, taking Simone by the hand and running down the stairs, listening to her squeal as she tried to keep up in her heels.

Placing his hand on the gun that was secured in his belt, he felt the cold metal under his fingers and smirked. He could hear the group behind him. Everything was going well so far. This place was going to be perfect. Actually, this was more than perfect. He hadn't expected a door to be unlocked, but being inside was going to work even better.

"Let's get this party started," he grinned to himself, pushing open the door and leading the group inside.


	2. Part Two

**HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (I know, technically after midnight again, but I haven't been asleep yet, to it's still kinda Halloween :p)**

**I've been trying to get this ready all day, between writing my dissertation which I am ready to rip up, but ended up having to re-write it and still not completely happy with it. I think the next bit's better though :) I hope. It might end up a little longer than 4/5 chapters, but not too much longer :)**

**Thank you for all the reviews that made me continue this, even if it was a little later than intended! EmmaJ1996, pinkswallowsun, Charlotte88, Thyqua, Sally Mayhem and Ann1119. Seriously, thank you so so much! :D**

**Hop Tu Naa!**

**xXx**

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><p><strong><span>Trick or Treat – Part Two<span>**

Nikki Alexander stretched, feeling her body ache due to exhaustion as she did so.

The body from the recent crime scene had just been delivered to the Lyell Centre, and Nikki wanted nothing more than to put him in the fridge and go home to bed, starting the post mortem after she had managed to grab a few hours of sleep. But she knew she couldn't.

She wouldn't let herself. The body of the young male looked as if he had only been in the alley for a short time, but Nikki wanted to check it over now that she had got back to the Lyell, wanted to check that she hadn't missed anything at the crime scene. She could leave the actual PM until tomorrow, but she wanted to do an external analysis before then so she knew what she was dealing with in the morning.

She knew she had little chance of sleeping tonight anyway, after the day she had just had. The scene was already haunting her, she dreaded to think what she would be like when she had finally managed to close her eyes.

Nikki stretched again, opening up the bottom drawer of Harry's desk and taking out a blank case file, before folding it and beginning to fill in the details on the front, ready for when she had finished her notes on the PM.

Date body received: 31st October 2011

Suspected cause of death: Bullet wound to the head

No name, no age, no next of kin to contact. Not the reasons why someone had decided to put a bullet through his brain, just a blank report waiting for Nikki to detail every bit of damage that the bullet had caused as it ended his life. The family probably had no idea yet, thought that he was out partying with his friends for Halloween. He was dressed up after all. His clothes had been soaked in fake blood, torn and ragged, his skin covered in stick on scars.

What a startling contrast to the small fairy costume she had seen earlier, her soft blonde curls falling over her powder blue dress.

Nikki sighed, leaning her head in her hands and squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears reappearing. There was another file sitting on her desk. Another completely empty case file that had the details on the front ready, and one which she wanted to tape shut and never open again.

Name: Scarlett Corrin

Age: 5 years

Next of kin: Nina Corrin (mother)

Date body received: 31st October 2011

Suspected cause of death: smoke inhalation

Post mortem scheduled for: 1st November 2011

Nikki felt her hands shake uncontrollably as she shoved the file into the drawer and leant her head back in her hands. She couldn't let herself do this again. She _had _to act professional, it was her job after all. She couldn't let every case with a child effect her so much that she couldn't focus. There was no way she was going to let Harry and Leo send her back to a psychiatrist, have them watch her every move until the case was over with again.

She'd never taken any of the sodding pills the last time, and she wasn't starting now.

Glancing at her watch, Nikki let out a groan. Eleven seventeen. How on earth could it be nearly half eleven already? Maybe, if she was lucky, she could be home and in bed by one. But without Zak to prep the body that was highly unlikely.

As she thought, it took Nikki nearly half an hour to prep the cutting room ready to start, although she knew that she could probably have done it in half the time on any normal day, when she was not too exhausted to move. Harry better be bloody grateful.

Quickly checking her mobile, Nikki was both relieved and disappointed when she found no message from Harry. That meant he must still be asleep, which is what he needed, but she still would have preferred to speak to him instead of sitting in the empty office on her own.

Nikki could hear the screams and shouts outside from the cutting room and could tell that the streets would still be littered with university students, their 'costumes' far too short and their bloodstreams swimming with alcohol. How she'd love to be young and care-free for just one more night…

Hitting play on the CD player, turning the music up until it reverberated off the walls, echoing slightly in the large room, Nikki turned towards the body. She needed the music loud tonight, just to stay awake long enough to get through the examination, but the fact that it drowned out the noise of the parties going on outside was a bonus. Her bed was calling her name, and there was a certain someone asleep on her sofa that she'd rather be cuddled up to, instead of having to stare at the body of another wasted life. A life cut short for no obvious reason.

The examination was pretty straight forward, and Nikki was scribbling down another note when she heard a crash in the background that sounded much closer than the ones outside. Nikki frowned, pausing in taking her notes and killed the music. The immediate silence was uneasy, yet that's what it was. Completely silent. She must be hearing things. She was tired enough after all.

Shaking her head, Nikki turned back to the slab, just as there was another bang from the locker room.

"Harry, I didn't take your call for you to come in to work and join me, did I?" she laughed, spinning round towards the cutting room doors. "I could have gone to bed you know. I could have woken you up, told you it was your call and gone straight to bed you lazy bugger."

But there was no answer as Nikki addressed the glass doors, expecting Harry to open them and stick his head through, shooting her his trademark grin that always let him away with whatever he wanted from her.

"Harry?" she put down her clipboard and pulled off her gloves, making her way across the lab. "Harry, you're not funny you know. I know its Halloween but you can't scare me. Your face is scarier than any mask you can find, and after all these years I think I'm getting used to it by now."

She tried to keep her voice light hearted, knowing that Harry would be able to hear any hint of fear no matter how small. He was just getting her back for calling him this morning before he had managed to get to bed.

"Harry?"

There was another bang, and Nikki jumped back just as her hand was about to touch the glass door. The unmistakable sound of laughter rang out through the locker room and Nikki felt her heart thump in her chest. It was a girl laughing, not Harry. There was someone else here, this late at night when the building should be locked up and secure.

Nikki stepped back slowly, pressing her back to the wall and trying to focus on breathing steadily. Her mobile was in her pocket, all she had to do was phone Harry and get him to come down to the Lyell to meet her. He wouldn't be happy at being woken up, but right now, she couldn't care less.

"Pick up Harry," Nikki whispered as she held her phone tight to her ear. "Pick up your damn phone. Shit!"

She had put it on silent. She remembered now. Nikki had picked up Harry's phone just before she left and put it on to the silent setting so it wouldn't disturb him. And now she couldn't get a hold of him. He wasn't picking up.

"This way," she heard someone shout and Nikki froze again, her mobile still held at her ear.

And then everything seemed to click into place, her limbs started to move, and before she knew it she was back in the middle of the cutting room, a scalpel replacing her mobile in her shaking hand.

"They'll go away," Nikki whispered to herself. "It's just kids messing about. They'll go."

She wished she believed her own words, she really did.

"Sim, this way!" his voice sounded again and suddenly the doors flew open, a tall male in his late teens standing in the doorway with a cruel smirk on his lips. "Hello there."

Even from a distance, Nikki could tell within a split second that this was not someone she wanted to be facing right now. He might have been in his teens but he was huge, powerful, and somewhat intimidating.

"Get out," Nikki trembled, her hand gripping the small blade. "You shouldn't be here. How did you get in?"

"Through the front door," he shrugged. "Seriously, you're a doctor, you're supposed to be clever. How else would we have gotten in here?"

Bloody receptionist. She was unreliable at the best of times, but for the last week she had complained to Nikki every chance she got that she had to work late tonight when she had a Halloween party she wanted to go to. All she had to do was check that the doors were locked and turn the lights off. How hard could it be?

"Tyler, what are you doing?" came a girl's voice as she ducked under his arm, grinning at Nikki. "Oh, you found a friend."

"Please put that down," Tyler said, glancing at the blade still held tight in Nikki's hand. "Do you really think we're going to hurt you? It's Halloween, we only want to have some fun and ask you something."

"What?" Nikki asked, her eyes widening as more people appeared behind the other two.

"Well," Tyler smirked, walking towards Nikki. "Trick. Or treat?"

There was silence as they stared at each other, Nikki desperately trying to keep her breathing under control before it was broken by the sound of laughter from one of the girls.

"Please put that down," Tyler spoke again, reaching up to take the scalpel, but Nikki flinched away.

"What do you want?"

Tyler shrugged, the smile never leaving his lips.

"A party. You see, my girlfriend," he turned towards the girl behind him and held out his hand. "Simone. I promised her a good night. And that's what we're going to get."

"Look," Nikki said, lowering her hand slightly. "I have a bottle of wine in the office, what about that? Trick or treat, right? Well I choose treat."

"Hmm," Tyler frowned, turning to face the others who were all standing in the doorway. "Liam, why don't you decide for the pretty little doctor. Trick or treat?"

Liam made his way to stand next to Tyler, smirking before throwing his hand up towards Nikki, a gun pointing in Nikki's direction.

"Bang!" he shouted, pulling the trigger.

Nikki jumped, dropping the scalpel to the floor which was quickly kicked away by Tyler as the group erupted into hysterics.

"I'll take that as trick then," Tyler said. "Good choice. Now, doctor, I need you to do one more thing for us. I need you to destroy everything you've written on that paper."

"Tyler, what are you talking about?" one of the girls asked, but Tyler didn't get to answer, as one of the other girls let out a scream and stepped away from the group, her hand covering her mouth and her eyes fixed to the body on the slab.

Nikki turned away to throw the sheet over the top, covering his blood soaked features.

"M-Mark," she stammered, her eyes flying to Nikki. "Was that Mark? What happened to him? Why is he here?"

"I don't know who it is yet," Nikki shook her head, glancing to the slab. "I can't let you see him, we don't know who he is."

"But its Mark!" she shouted again. "It's Mark Fell, he- he was with us only a few hours ago!"

"Kelly, calm down," the other girl moved towards her."You're probably seeing things."

"Fran, it was Mark, I know it is! Please, let me see him," she turned to Nikki, her eyes pleading. "Please."

"I- I can't," Nikki shook her head. "He- he was shot. In the head. It's not a nice sight, you won't want to-"

"Please!" she cried. "He's my cousin."

Nikki sighed, turning back to the body and nodding her head.

"Leave it," Tyler said loudly turning to Kelly. "I don't care if he was your cousin or not, he was an arse."

"What do you mean?" she sobbed. "You were talking to him earlier. You were talking to him at Eddie's. You-"

The colour seemed to drain from Kelly's face, her thick dark eyeliner standing out even more as it began to streak down her face. She was wearing a pair of dark hot pants and a skyscraper heels, accessorised with a small clip on witches hat and a pencilled on spider web above her right eye.

"You left with him," she stuttered. "We didn't see you for hours. What did you do? You know how drunk he was, and you left him on his own, didn't you. And now someone has killed him!"

Tyler smirked, walking past Nikki towards the slab and taking hold of the sheet.

"No," Nikki followed him, putting her arm out to stop him. "I can't let you touch him."

But Tyler pushed her away, throwing the sheet back and exposing the bloodied body.

Kelly took one look at the body and bent over, throwing up on the lab floor, her whole body shaking.

"What did you do?" Liam questioned Tyler, before turning to the other guy who had remained reasonably quiet, as if looking for backup. "Tony, did you see him leave?"

Tony, who had dressed as a hotdog, shook his head, his eyes wide.

"Why are you actually here?" Nikki questioned, resting her hands on her hips and trying to ignore the huddle of girls that were now comforting Kelly. "I mean, I get it. You're young, you're wanting a good time. And Halloween is the perfect time to drink too much and enjoy yourselves. So why here? Why do you want to spend your night in here with the dead, instead of out there where you can feel so alive?"

"Why do you?" Tyler asked with a smirk. "Why do you spend your time in here?"

"I wouldn't be if your friend hadn't been shot through the skull, would I?"

"You just keep telling yourself that love," he laughed. "Now, sit down."

"What?"

"Sit down. Now. Over there, by the wall," he tilted his head to Nikki, who narrowed her eyes in reply. "Now!"

Suddenly, his hand shot up and Nikki found herself looking down the barrel of a gun, inches from her nose, but this time she could tell the difference between Liam's plastic toy and the one in Tyler's hands.

"Ok," she said quickly, holding her hands up and moving back slowly until her back made contact with the wall.

"You stupid bitch," Simone laughed, draping her arm over Tyler's shoulders and kissing him on the cheek. "It's not real, you don't need to look so shocked. See, Tony's a hotdog, with a rifle. Don't ask. Liam's a cowboy and Tyler's a gangster. And then we're a cat, a witch, a rabbit and a devil…"

"Simone?" Tyler turned to her.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Simone frowned, her eyes growing dark.

"Stop telling me to shut up! I never wanted to come in here in the first place. This is boring. Put down your stupid toy and lets go find somewhere that'll let us in!" she moaned, pulling on his arm, but Tyler shrugged her off, the gun remaining inches from Nikki's skin.

"Sit down," he said, his voice monotone. "Simone, sit next to her."

"No," Simone laughed. "Stop messing, come on. Let's go."

"Now!" Tyler yelled, turning the gun in the direction of the group behind him. "I mean it, all of you, sit down. Along the wall. Or you end up on the slab next to Mark."

"Ty, mate, I think you've had too much to drink," Liam spun his plastic gun around his finger. "It's not real. Let's get out of here."

"It's real," Nikki said, and the group turned to look at her. "The gun. It's real. Sit down."

"No, it's not," Liam rolled his eyes. "He's a gangster. You know, Eminem mixed with street gang rapper. God, you really are stupid for a doctor."

"It's a real bloody gun, now sit down!" Nikki shouted, her patience wearing thin. This had been a ridiculously long day, and the last thing she wanted to be doing was arguing in front of a deranged teenager with a loaded weapon pointed at her head. She'd been here before. And that had ended drastically. She didn't want to have to mop up any more brain matter from the Lyell Centre floor after it was blown out in front of her eyes.

Some of the teenagers, Kelly, Fran, Tony and the other girl that Nikki did not know the name of, seemed to sense the fear in Nikki's voice, and moved at her words, positioning themselves along the wall, with the girls clinging to each other, their bare skin covered in goose bumps. Liam and Simone however stood where they were, a defiant look on their features.

"Tyler, you're scaring me now," Simone said, placing a hand on his arm. "Come on, we don't blame you for leaving Mark on his own. We know how annoying he is when he's drunk. It wasn't your fault he got shot."

"Sit down."

"It's not a real gun, look," Liam shouted, aiming his own plastic gun at Nikki and pulling the trigger, causing it to make a small popping noise. "Wow, scary. This is getting ridiculous!"

"Sit down!" Tyler bellowed, pointing his gun at the glass doors in to the cutting room and pulling the trigger, the bang of the gun echoing through the lab and causing the girls to scream as the glass door shattered.

"It's a real gun!" Liam stammered, stepping away from Tyler.

"No shit Sherlock," Nikki muttered, unable to help herself. "I've only been telling you that for the last ten minutes."

"Sit. Down," Tyler smiled, pointing the gun at each person standing until they did as he asked, Nikki sliding down the wall to sit next to one of the trembling girls. "Now, I told you all that we were going to have a good time. And this is where the fun starts."

"You're crazy," Simone stuttered, wrapping her arms around her knees, her clip on devil horns beginning to slide down her hair.

"I know," Tyler smiled manically. "But it's Halloween. It's time for the freaks to come out to play."


End file.
